Jobs management with PowerShell

This lab should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.

Scenario

Background jobs provide a useful way to run multiple commands simultaneously and long-running commands in the background. In this lab, you’ll learn to create and manage two of the three basic kinds of jobs.

You’ll create and configure two scheduled jobs. You’ll also create a scheduled task using a Windows PowerShell script that searches for and removes disabled accounts from a certain security group.

Objectives

After completing this lab, you’ll be able to:

Start and manage jobs.
Create a scheduled job.

Lab setup

Virtual machines: LON-DC1, LON-SVR1, and LON-CL1

Username: Adatum\Administrator

Password: Pa55w.rd

For this lab, you’ll use the available virtual machine (VM) environment. Before you begin the lab, complete the following steps:

Open LON-DC1 and sign in as Adatum\Administrator with the password Pa55w.rd.
Repeat step 1 for LON-SVR1 and LON-CL1.

Exercise 1: Starting and managing jobs

Exercise scenario 1

In this exercise, you’ll start jobs using two of the basic job types.

The main tasks for this exercise are:

Start a Windows PowerShell remote job.
Start a local job.
Review and manage job status.

Task 1: Start a Windows PowerShell remote job

Ensure that you’re signed into LON-CL1 as Adatum\Administrator with the password Pa55w.rd.
Select Start, and then enter powersh.
In the results list, right-click Windows PowerShell or activate its context menu, and then select Run as administrator.
To start a Windows PowerShell remote job that retrieves a list of physical network adapters from LON-DC1 and LON-SVR1, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
Invoke-Command –ScriptBlock { Get-NetAdapter –Physical } –ComputerName LON-DC1,LON-SVR1 –AsJob –JobName RemoteNetAdapt
```
To start a Windows PowerShell remote job that retrieves a list of Server Message Block (SMB) shares from LON-DC1 and LON-SVR1, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
Invoke-Command –ScriptBlock { Get-SMBShare } –ComputerName LON-DC1,LON-SVR1 –AsJob –JobName RemoteShares
```

To start a Windows PowerShell remote job that retrieves all instances of the Win32_Volume class from every computer in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), enter the following commands, and then press the Enter key after each:

Enable-PSRemoting –SkipNetworkProfileCheck –Force
Invoke-Command –ScriptBlock { Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_Volume } –ComputerName (Get-ADComputer –Filter * | Select –Expand Name) –AsJob –JobName RemoteDisks

Note: You need to enable PowerShell Remoting on LON-CL1 in order to connect to it by using PowerShell Remoting, which is, by default, disabled on Windows 10. The RemoteDisk targets all domain computers, including LON-CL1.

Note: Because some of the computers in the domain might not be online, this job might not complete successfully. This is expected behavior.

Task 2: Start a local job

To start a local job that retrieves all entries from the Security event log, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
Start-Job –ScriptBlock { Get-EventLog –LogName Security } –Name LocalSecurity
```
Note: Get-EventLog is only available in Windows PowerShell 5.1. In PowerShell 7, use Start-Job -ScriptBlock { Get-WinEvent -LogName Security } -Name LocalSecurity instead.
To start a local job that produces 100 directory listings, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
Start-Job –ScriptBlock { 1..100 | ForEach-Object { Dir C:\ -Recurse } } –Name LocalDir
```

Note: This job will take a long time to complete. Don’t wait for it to complete. Proceed to the next task.

Task 3: Review and manage job status

Ensure that you’re signed in to LON-CL1 as Adatum\Administrator with the password Pa55w.rd.
To display a list of running jobs, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
Get-Job
```
To display a list of running jobs whose names start with remote, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
Get-Job –Name Remote*
```
To stop the LocalDir job, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
Stop-Job –Name LocalDir
```
Run Get-Job until there are no jobs with the status of Running.
To receive the results of the RemoteNetAdapt job, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
Receive-Job –Name RemoteNetAdapt
```

To receive the results of the RemoteDisks job from LON-DC1 only, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:

Get-Job -Name RemoteDisks | 
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty ChildJobs | 
  Where-Object { $_.Location -eq 'LON-DC1' } | 
  Receive-Job

Exercise 2: Creating a scheduled job

Note: The Register-ScheduledJob cmdlet and the PSScheduledJob module are only available in Windows PowerShell 5.1. Ensure you are running this exercise in a Windows PowerShell 5.1 console, not PowerShell 7.

Exercise scenario 2

In this exercise, you’ll create and run a scheduled job and retrieve its results. You’ll then create and run a scheduled task from a Windows PowerShell script that removes a disabled user from a security group in AD DS.

The main tasks for this exercise are:

Create job options and job triggers.
Create a scheduled job and retrieve results.
Use a Windows PowerShell script as a scheduled task.

Task 1: Create job options and a job trigger

Ensure that you’re signed in to LON-CL1 as Adatum\Administrator with the password Pa55w.rd.
To create a new job option, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
$option = New-ScheduledJobOption –WakeToRun -RunElevated
```
To create a new job trigger, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
$trigger1 = New-JobTrigger –Once –At (Get-Date).AddMinutes(5)
```

Task 2: Create a scheduled job and retrieve results

To register the job, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:

Register-ScheduledJob –ScheduledJobOption $option `
–Trigger $trigger1 `
–ScriptBlock { Get-EventLog –LogName Security } `
–Name LocalSecurityLog

To display a list of job triggers, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
Get-ScheduledJob –Name LocalSecurityLog | 
Select –Expand JobTriggers 
```
Note the time that displays, and then wait until the time returned in the output of step 2 has passed.
To display a list of jobs, enter the following command, and then press the Enter key:
```
Get-Job
```
To receive the job results, wait until 5 minutes passed from the time you registered the LocalSecurityLog job, then enter the following command, and press the Enter key:
```
Receive-Job –Name LocalSecurityLog
```

Note: Verify that the output consists of a list of log entries.

Task 3: Use a Windows PowerShell script as a scheduled task

Switch to the console session to LON-DC1 and, if needed, sign into LON-DC1 as Adatum\Administrator with the password Pa55w.rd.
On LON-DC1, in Server Manager, select Tools, and then select Active Directory Users and Computers.
In the Active Directory Users and Computers console tree, select and expand Adatum.com, and then select Managers.
In the details pane of Managers, select one of the user accounts, such as Adam Hobbs. Right-click the account or activate its context menu, and then select Disable Account.
Double-click the user you disabled, or select it and then press the Enter key.
Select the Member of tab and verify that the user is a member of the Managers security group.
Select OK and then minimize Active Directory Users and Computers.
Select Start, enter Task Scheduler, and then select Task Scheduler.
In Task Scheduler, in the console tree, right-click Task Scheduler (local) or activate its context menu, and then select Create Task.
In the Create Task window, in the General tab, in the Name and Description boxes, enter Remove Disabled User from Managers Security Group.
In the Security options section, select Run whether user is logged on or not, and then select the Run with highest privileges checkbox.
In the Triggers tab, select New.
In the New Trigger window, in Settings, select Daily, in the Start time box, change the time to 5 minutes from the current time, and then select OK.

Note: If you get a Task Scheduler pop-up window, select OK.
In the Actions tab, select New.
In the New Action window, in the Program/script box, enter PowerShell.exe.
In the Add arguments (optional) box, enter -ExecutionPolicy Bypass E:\Labfiles\\Mod11\DeleteDisabledUserManagersGroup.ps1, select OK and then, in a pop-up window, select Yes.
In the Conditions tab, review the items, but make no changes.
In the Settings tab, in the If the task is already running, then the following rule applies: drop-down list, select Stop the existing instance, and then select OK.
In the Task Scheduler credentials pop-up window, in the Password box, enter Pa55w.rd, and then select OK.
In Task Scheduler, select Task Schedule Library and then in the details pane, select Remove Disabled User from Managers Security Group.
In the details pane, select the History tab. After the five minutes pass, select Refresh in the Actions pane. You should notice an item with the Task Category of Task completed.
Maximize Active Directory Users and Computers.
Double-click the user you disabled, or select it and then press the Enter key.
Select the Member of tab. The user should no longer be a member of the Managers security group.